Nifty choppy; Ambuja Cements, Lupin, BPCL down

ECONOMICTIMES.COM|

Updated: Nov 19, 2012, 10.59 AM IST

At 10:30 a.m.; the 50-share index was at 5,573.25, down 0.80 points or 0.01 per cent. It touched a high of 5,592.75 and a low of 5,557.20 in trade so far. The Sensex was at 18,331.20, up 21.83 points or 0.12 per cent. It touched a high of 18,386.78 and a low of 18,276.81 in trade so far.

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MUMBAI: The Nifty failed to hold on to early gains and slipped in the negative terrain even as the Asian markets remained firm. Gains in auto, power and technology were offset by losses in banks, oil & gas and capital goods space.

According to analysts, RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty's comments that inflation is still quite high dampened hopes for an interest rate cut. Concerns of no-confidence motion against the government during the winter session are also keeping jittery investors on sidelines.

At 10:30 a.m.; the 50-share index was at 5,573.25, down 0.80 points or 0.01 per cent. It touched a high of 5,592.75 and a low of 5,557.20 in trade so far.

The Sensex was at 18,331.20, up 21.83 points or 0.12 per cent. It touched a high of 18,386.78 and a low of 18,276.81 in trade so far.

"Nifty has now dropped below supports of its 20 and 50 day SMAs and is possibly starting at lower levels in the coming week. It, however, is hanging onto the six-month trend line support as well as a 'flag' support where some bargain buying is likely," said Edelweiss report.

"In the coming week, expect Nifty to start lower and test the crucial support at 5,548 where bargain buying is likely. Incase of a breach of the same, the bears are prepared to push it down to 5,415/5,325; whereas immediate upside seems capped at 5,660. Bulls will gain fresh strength only above 5,680 now," the report added.

The BSE Midcap Index was down 0.36 per cent and the BSE Smallcap Index slipped 0.26 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Auto Index gained 0.83 per cent, the BSE Power Index moved 0.25 per cent higher and the BSE IT Index advanced 0.22 per cent. The BSE Bankex was down 0.34 per cent and the BSE Oil & Gas Index declined 0.30 per cent.

Credit Sussie has upgraded Bharti Airtel to 'outperform' from 'underperform' rating earlier. The brokerage has also upped the price target from Rs 225 earlier to Rs 355. The brokerage firm is also of the view that the risk reward now is favourable for investors as EBIDTA estimates are nearing the bottom and regulatory clarity emerging.

The foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 509.71 crore on Friday as per the provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

Most Asian markets were up after the U.S. President Barack Obama expressed confidence on resolving the fiscal cliff problem. The Nikkei 225 was up 1.69 per cent, the Seoul Composite gained 1.21 per cent and the Hang Seng moved up 0.48 per cent.